CHEMISTRY. CLIMATE. GEOGRAPHY. GEOLOGY. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY .SOLAR SYSTEM. STATES OF MATTER. TIME.

Great Story #1: Coming of the Universe and the Earth

The First Great Story is told on the first day of school because it launches the study of geography. Geography comes first because before the other subject areas, we first need to understand our environment and how it took form.

The story includes the idea of the immensity of the universe. It is mentioned that everything in the world came to be because particles follow their laws (solids, liquids, and gases). Everything behaves according to its natural laws. Laws create order; order is a reality.

This story is about how the world came to be; from the beginning all the way to how we know the Earth now. The story is told with grandeur and awe. It is filled with facts but also includes poetic elements that help the children imagine various concepts. The story is told alongside charts and scientific demonstrations.

Subjects Covered: Geography & Physical Science

Solar System

Planets, stars, constellations

Relationship between the Sun and Earth

States of Matter

Solids, liquids, and gas

Further extensions with experiments

Chemistry

Atoms, molecules, compounds, bonding, experimentation

Matter and energy

Composition of the Earth (Geology)

Layers of the Earth

Land and water forms

Formation of mountains and volcanoes

Types of rocks

Properties and identification of rocks and minerals

Physical Geography

Identifying continents, countries, cities, capitals, land and water features

Making maps

Using an atlas

Researching and presenting information

Economic Geography

ANATOMY. BIOLOGY. BOTANY. CHEMISTRY. LIFE SCIENCES. RESEARCH. SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS. SCIENTIFIC METHOD. TIMELINE OF LIFE. ZOOLOGY

Great Story #2: The Coming of Life

Told alongside a beautiful, large timeline, the Second Great Story tells about how life came to Earth. It provides impressions of the progression of life forms (both plants and animals) throughout time. The timeline provides an impression of the linear nature of time, to which details of the various life forms and events of each period are attached.

The story is told in an engaging manner. It presents details such as how geographical changes directly affect evolution.

Toward the end of the timeline, the story touches on where human beings belong in the phenomenon of evolution and time periods. The children imagine what the world is like in various time periods, and hopefully the story inspires gratitude for how we know the world today.

Subjects Covered: Biology and Life Science

Zoology

The Five classes of vertebrates

Vertebrae / Invertebrate

Classification of phylum and class

Research

Observation and care of animals

Nature walks and field trips

Botany

Parts and functions of plants

Needs of plants

Observation and care of plants

Outdoor / Indoor gardening

Classification of plants

Life Sciences

Kingdom classification

Science Experiments

Introduction to the Scientific Method

Observing, writing, evaluating, performing

Human Anatomy

Introduction to the cell

Genetics

Systems of the body

Tree of Life

Taxonomy of all living organisms

AMERICAN HISTORY. ANATOMY .ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. ANTHROPOLOGY. ARCHEOLOGY . CULTURAL HISTORY. DISCOVERY & INVENTIONS. HISTORY. HUMAN STUDIES. NATURAL HISTORY. SOCIAL STUDIES. TIME. TIMELINE OF LIFE. WORLD HISTORY

Great Story #3: The Coming of Human Beings

In celebration of human beings, from long ago and from today, the Third Great Story describes three special gifts that set humans apart from other life forms: the ability to think, the ability to love, and the ability to work with the hand. Our early human ancestors and how they met their needs are also described in this story. Drawing from imagination, the story requires no other tools or charts. The story simply requires attention and a space to reflect on the past, acknowledge the present, and plan for the future.

Subjects Covered: History

Time

BC/AD timeline

Calendar – study of the year, month, week, day

Clock study

Study of eras (Paleozoic, Cenozoic, etc)

Study of ages (Paleolithic, Bronze, etc)

Human Studies

Fundamental needs of humans

Introductions to various civilizations and cultures

Appreciation for human contributions

Study of Civilizations

Gifts of civilizations

Introduction to different civilizations – Early, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Medieval, Renaissance, Modern

Archaeology

Anthropology

Growth of culture, migration, exploration

American History

American aboriginals

Period of exploration

Colonial period

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. COMMUNICATION. COMPOSITION. CULTURAL HISTORY. DISCOVERY & INVENTIONS. DRAMA. ENGLISH. FOREIGN LANGUAGE. GRAMMAR & SYNTAX. HISTORY. HUMAN STUDIES. LISTENING. COMPREHENSION. LITERATURE. PUBLIC SPEAKING. READING. READING COMPREHENSION. RESEARCH. SOCIAL STUDIES. WRITING.

Great Story #4: The Origin of Language

The Fourth Great Story allows to child to explore a great tool of human culture: language. Humans satisfied a need by creating the tool of language. This story opens the door of language because it reveals the beginnings of written communication and the alphabet.

Elementary children can learn language as a part of history, but they will also study aspects about language, both spoken and written.

This story is meant to evoke awe and gratitude as the child’s awareness of raised regarding how the social construct of language came to be. description

Subjects Covered: Language

Grammar and Syntax

Parts of the speech

Sentence analysis

Word study

Dictionary and thesaurus skills

Writing Practice

Cursive handwriting

Sentence construction

Punctuation rules

Capitalization rules

Paragraph writing

Written Composition

Research writing

Creative writing

Story writing

Poetry writing

Letter writing

Journal writing

Reading

Reading for meaning and content

Story elements

Literature discussions

Exposure to many literary genres

Foreign Language

ALGEBRA. BUSINESS. DECIMALS FRACTIONS. GEOMETRY. GRAPHS. LINES. MATH OPERATIONS. MATHEMATICS. MEASUREMENT. MONEY. MULTIPLES & FACTORS. NUMERATION. PERCENTAGE. POLYGONS. PROBLEM SOLVING. PROPORTION. RATIO. RESEARCH. SCIENTIFIC METHOD. SQUARES/CUBES/ROOTS

Great Story #5: The Origin of Numbers

The purpose of the Fifth Great Story is to present how numbers came to be present in human society and to introduce the child to the history connected with our numerals. The story appeals to the imagination and to the sense of admiration for the unknown people who contributed to how we use and understand numbers today. The story also shows various developments in number systems, from various ancient civilizations to now.

Subjects Covered: Mathematics & Geometry

Numeration

Formation of numbers

Attach a quantity to a symbol

Place value to millions

Study of other number systems

Review hierarchical values, expanded notation, comparison, rounding, and estimating

Operations

Static and dynamic addition

Static and dynamic subtraction

Static and dynamic multiplication

Static and dynamic division

Memorization of math facts

Commutative, Associative, and Distributive laws

Squaring & Cubing

Introduction, concept, and practice

Powers of numbers

Square root, cube root

Measurement

History

Introduction, concept, and practice of linear measurement

Money – coin identification, adding coins, making change

Financial Literacy

Fractions

Introduction, identification, concept, equivalence

Proper, improper, mixed

Reducing fractions

Operations

Converting to percentage and decimals

Graphs

Introduction to bar, line, and pictographs

Circle, stem and leaf graphs

Multiples

Introduction, concept, and practice

GCF, LCM, prime and composite numbers

Problem Solving Skills

Word problems using the operations

Small business enterprise

Decimals

Equivalency, comparing, and ordering

Converting fractions as decimals

All four operations abstractly

Ratio & Percent

Ratios as fractions, decimals, and percentage

Percent as fractions

Percent of numbers (calculated)

Statistics and Probability

Construct, read and interpret tables

Construct, read and interpret graphs

Understand mean, median, mode, frequency, and tree diagrams

Experimental and theoretical probability

Algebraic Concepts

Pre-algebra

Squaring of binomials and trinomials

Working with integers, scientific notation, equations

Lines, Planes Figures and Solids

Point, line, surface, solid

Similarity, congruence, equivalence

Triangle study – nomenclature, classification according to sides and angles

Quadrilateral study – nomenclature, classification

Perimeter

Measuring and bisecting angles

Circles - nomenclature, relationships, circumference

Diameter and radius

Pythagorean theorem

Polygons

Definition and types of polygons

Further study of triangles

Volume & Area

Measurement

Estimation, length, perimeter, area, volume

Geometric constructions with compass and straightedge

In the Montessori Upper Elementary group, we strive to put technology in the context of the universe and human history. Our approach emphasizes human innovation from the hammer to three-dimensional printing and the amazing things humans can accomplish through collaboration and purposeful exploration. In today’s digital world, our classroom is a safe space where children develop the critical skills of moving slower, identifying credible sources, synthesizing information and crafting the research into a complete work of their own. With all Montessori materials, our goal with technology is to isolate the difficulty so students master the skill. Our purpose is to build relationships between students and the world through their research, creative expression and going-out. Technology is a tool for this purpose and, with guidance, they use whatever form and application is appropriate to their expression.

Technology Used by Teachers

Hardware

Computers

iPad

Projector

Printer

Copier

iPhone

Software

Pages

Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Camera

Apple Mail

Google Drive & Gmail

Portal

iPhoto

Keynote

Adobe

Dropbox

Transparent Classroom

Technology Used by Students

Hardware

Computers

iPad

Telephone

Projector

Microscope

Printer

Copier

Keyboard

Camera

Software

Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Pages

Browsers

iMovie

iPhoto

PowerPoint

Keynote

Google Drive